Denise Traber
Biographic Data
| ID | 4123038 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Denise Traber |
| GIVEN NAMES | Denise |
| FAMILY NAME | Traber |
| SIGNATURE | TRABER D |
| AFFILIATIONS | University of Zurich |
| ORCID | 0000-0001-9982-1957 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 15 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 263 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 15 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2010 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2025 |
| H-INDEX | 9 |
Polarisation or convergence? How the economy shapes party policy positions
A well-studied hypothesis in the political economy literature is that economic globalisation leads to the convergence of economic policies because of increasing international constraints. However, little is known about how parties adapt their policy positions during economic crises. This paper investigates parties’ policy shifts in economically harsh times. It highlights the important distinction between long-term trends (e.g., economic integrati…
Group-based public opinion polarisation in multi-party systems
Public opinion polarisation can impair society’s ability to reach a democratic consensus in different political issue areas. This appears particularly true when the polarisation of opinions coincides with clearly identifiable social groups. The literature on public opinion polarisation has mostly focussed on the US two-party context. We lack concepts and measures that can be adapted to European countries with multi-party systems and multi-layered…
Social status, political priorities and unequal representation
Researchers on inequalities in representation debate about whether governments represent the preferences of the rich better than those of less affluent citizens. We argue that problems of high‐ and low‐status citizens are treated differently already at the agenda‐setting stage. If affluent and less affluent citizens have different priorities about which issues should be tackled by government, then these divergent group priorities explain why gove…
The surge in women's representation in the 2019 Swiss federal elections
In the 2019 Swiss federal elections, women's representation increased more than at any time before, reaching an all‐time high at 42%. In this article, we offer several explanations for this. First, in almost all parties, the percentage of female candidates was significantly larger than in the previous elections. Second, on average female candidates held better positions on party lists, both compared to men and to the previous election. Third, in …
Introduction to the Special Issue “The 2019 Swiss National Elections
This Special Issue brings together a large variety of contributions dealing with the influence of issues and issue competition, the structure of attitudes towards immigration and international cooperation and a series of non‐policy factors such as campaign consultants and the rise of female representation in Switzerland. In this introduction we place the contributions in the broader framework of current debates in the international literature and…
Errors have been made, others will be blamed
This article investigates prime ministers’ communication strategies during the most recent economic crisis in Europe. It argues that when electoral risk is high but governments’ policy options are severely limited, prime ministers will use specific communication strategies to mitigate electoral risks. Two such communication strategies are analysed – issue engagement and blame shifting – by applying state‐of‐the‐art quantitative text analysis meth…
Selecting in or Selecting Out? Gender Gaps and Political Methodology in Europe
Studies investigating gender gaps in the doctoral training of political science students have focused so far overwhelmingly on the US context. Although important research within this context has made strides in identifying the persistent challenges to women’s incorporation in political methodology, much remains unknown about whether women and men have different experiences in methods training during their PhD programs. We contribute to this debat…
The Politics of Trade-Offs
Welfare state reform in times of austerity is notoriously difficult because most citizens oppose retrenchment of social benefits. Governments, thus, tend to combine cutbacks with selective benefit expansions, thereby creating trade-offs: to secure new advantages, citizens must accept painful cutbacks. Prior research has been unable to assess the effectiveness of compensating components in restrictive welfare reforms. We provide novel evidence on …
How economic crises affect political representation
How do economic crises affect political representation in times of constrained government? Our paper shows that among voters salience of economic issues increases during economically harsh times. However, parties respond only to a limited degree to economic shocks, with the result that congruence between parties and voters decreases. We theorise the incentives and disincentives different political parties have in choosing a saliency strategy and …
Mehrheitsfähigkeit der Altersvorsorge 2020
Nach einem mehr als fünf Jahre dauernden Gesetzgebungsprozess ist die Vorlage «Altersvorsorge 2020» zur Reform der ersten und zweiten Säule der Schweizerischen Altersrentenversicherung im September 2017 in der Volksabstimmung gescheitert. Dies obwohl die Finanzierungsszenarien einen klaren Sicherungsbedarf ausweisen, und obwohl fast 90 Prozent der Stimmbürgerinnen und Stimmbürger Reformen in der Altersvorsorge für notwendig halten. Es liegt daher…
Estimating Intra-Party Preferences
Well-established methods exist for measuring party positions, but reliable means for estimating intra-party preferences remain underdeveloped. While most efforts focus on estimating the ideal points of individual legislators based on inductive scaling of roll call votes, this data suffers from two problems: selection bias due to unrecorded votes and strong party discipline, which tends to make voting a strategic rather than a sincere indication o…
Disenchanted Swiss Parliament? Electoral Strategies and Coalition Formation
The Swiss party system has changed considerably since the 1990s. With the increasing electoral success of the right‐wing populist Swiss People's Party (SVP), the simultaneous defeat of the center‐right and a relatively stable left, it has become more polarized. In what respect have these changes in the electoral arena affected legislative politics in parliament? This article studies the voting behavior of party groups in the Swiss lower house bet…
Party Unity in the Swiss Parliament
This study investigates the connection between legislative and electoral politics in Switzerland. The authors postulate that party unity is higher in an election year, and more specifically in votes on issues that are important for the party platform and that are of greater visibility to voters. The authors analyse the entire voting record of the Swiss parliament (lower house) on legislative acts between 1996 and 2007, which consists of roll call…
Does Participation in Policymaking Enhance Satisfaction with the Policy Outcome? Evidence from Switzerland
This article investigates the benefit of participation in policymaking. Based on data from interviews with various interest groups, private organisations, and representatives of regions that had been involved in recent policymaking processes in Switzerland, this study analyses the relationship between participation and satisfaction with the policy outcome. The study looks at two different aspects of outcome satisfaction: perceived consensus of a …
The Silent Reform of Swiss Federalism
This article examines the decision‐making process leading to the new constitutional articles on education in Switzerland. It analyzes how actors from both state levels (Confederation and cantons) could reach consensus in a process that was prone to a “joint‐decision trap”. To that end, we hypothesize which factors may be conducive to a “problem‐solving” style of policy‐making in a compulsory negotiation system. Rich empirical material from variou…
The Politics of Trade-Offs
Welfare state reform in times of austerity is notoriously difficult because most citizens oppose retrenchment of social benefits. Governments, thus, tend to combine cutbacks with selective benefit expansions, thereby creating trade-offs: to secure new advantages, citizens must accept painful cutbacks. Prior research has been unable to assess the effectiveness of compensating components in restrictive welfare reforms. We provide novel evidence on …
Errors have been made, others will be blamed
This article investigates prime ministers’ communication strategies during the most recent economic crisis in Europe. It argues that when electoral risk is high but governments’ policy options are severely limited, prime ministers will use specific communication strategies to mitigate electoral risks. Two such communication strategies are analysed – issue engagement and blame shifting – by applying state‐of‐the‐art quantitative text analysis meth…
Estimating Intra-Party Preferences
Well-established methods exist for measuring party positions, but reliable means for estimating intra-party preferences remain underdeveloped. While most efforts focus on estimating the ideal points of individual legislators based on inductive scaling of roll call votes, this data suffers from two problems: selection bias due to unrecorded votes and strong party discipline, which tends to make voting a strategic rather than a sincere indication o…
How economic crises affect political representation
How do economic crises affect political representation in times of constrained government? Our paper shows that among voters salience of economic issues increases during economically harsh times. However, parties respond only to a limited degree to economic shocks, with the result that congruence between parties and voters decreases. We theorise the incentives and disincentives different political parties have in choosing a saliency strategy and …
Party Unity in the Swiss Parliament
This study investigates the connection between legislative and electoral politics in Switzerland. The authors postulate that party unity is higher in an election year, and more specifically in votes on issues that are important for the party platform and that are of greater visibility to voters. The authors analyse the entire voting record of the Swiss parliament (lower house) on legislative acts between 1996 and 2007, which consists of roll call…
Social status, political priorities and unequal representation
Researchers on inequalities in representation debate about whether governments represent the preferences of the rich better than those of less affluent citizens. We argue that problems of high‐ and low‐status citizens are treated differently already at the agenda‐setting stage. If affluent and less affluent citizens have different priorities about which issues should be tackled by government, then these divergent group priorities explain why gove…
The Silent Reform of Swiss Federalism
This article examines the decision‐making process leading to the new constitutional articles on education in Switzerland. It analyzes how actors from both state levels (Confederation and cantons) could reach consensus in a process that was prone to a “joint‐decision trap”. To that end, we hypothesize which factors may be conducive to a “problem‐solving” style of policy‐making in a compulsory negotiation system. Rich empirical material from variou…
Disenchanted Swiss Parliament? Electoral Strategies and Coalition Formation
The Swiss party system has changed considerably since the 1990s. With the increasing electoral success of the right‐wing populist Swiss People's Party (SVP), the simultaneous defeat of the center‐right and a relatively stable left, it has become more polarized. In what respect have these changes in the electoral arena affected legislative politics in parliament? This article studies the voting behavior of party groups in the Swiss lower house bet…
The surge in women's representation in the 2019 Swiss federal elections
In the 2019 Swiss federal elections, women's representation increased more than at any time before, reaching an all‐time high at 42%. In this article, we offer several explanations for this. First, in almost all parties, the percentage of female candidates was significantly larger than in the previous elections. Second, on average female candidates held better positions on party lists, both compared to men and to the previous election. Third, in …
Group-based public opinion polarisation in multi-party systems
Public opinion polarisation can impair society’s ability to reach a democratic consensus in different political issue areas. This appears particularly true when the polarisation of opinions coincides with clearly identifiable social groups. The literature on public opinion polarisation has mostly focussed on the US two-party context. We lack concepts and measures that can be adapted to European countries with multi-party systems and multi-layered…
Mehrheitsfähigkeit der Altersvorsorge 2020
Nach einem mehr als fünf Jahre dauernden Gesetzgebungsprozess ist die Vorlage «Altersvorsorge 2020» zur Reform der ersten und zweiten Säule der Schweizerischen Altersrentenversicherung im September 2017 in der Volksabstimmung gescheitert. Dies obwohl die Finanzierungsszenarien einen klaren Sicherungsbedarf ausweisen, und obwohl fast 90 Prozent der Stimmbürgerinnen und Stimmbürger Reformen in der Altersvorsorge für notwendig halten. Es liegt daher…
Does Participation in Policymaking Enhance Satisfaction with the Policy Outcome? Evidence from Switzerland
This article investigates the benefit of participation in policymaking. Based on data from interviews with various interest groups, private organisations, and representatives of regions that had been involved in recent policymaking processes in Switzerland, this study analyses the relationship between participation and satisfaction with the policy outcome. The study looks at two different aspects of outcome satisfaction: perceived consensus of a …
The Silent Reform of Swiss Federalism
This article examines the decision‐making process leading to the new constitutional articles on education in Switzerland. It analyzes how actors from both state levels (Confederation and cantons) could reach consensus in a process that was prone to a “joint‐decision trap”. To that end, we hypothesize which factors may be conducive to a “problem‐solving” style of policy‐making in a compulsory negotiation system. Rich empirical material from variou…
Does Participation in Policymaking Enhance Satisfaction with the Policy Outcome? Evidence from Switzerland
This article investigates the benefit of participation in policymaking. Based on data from interviews with various interest groups, private organisations, and representatives of regions that had been involved in recent policymaking processes in Switzerland, this study analyses the relationship between participation and satisfaction with the policy outcome. The study looks at two different aspects of outcome satisfaction: perceived consensus of a …
Party Unity in the Swiss Parliament
This study investigates the connection between legislative and electoral politics in Switzerland. The authors postulate that party unity is higher in an election year, and more specifically in votes on issues that are important for the party platform and that are of greater visibility to voters. The authors analyse the entire voting record of the Swiss parliament (lower house) on legislative acts between 1996 and 2007, which consists of roll call…
Disenchanted Swiss Parliament? Electoral Strategies and Coalition Formation
The Swiss party system has changed considerably since the 1990s. With the increasing electoral success of the right‐wing populist Swiss People's Party (SVP), the simultaneous defeat of the center‐right and a relatively stable left, it has become more polarized. In what respect have these changes in the electoral arena affected legislative politics in parliament? This article studies the voting behavior of party groups in the Swiss lower house bet…
Estimating Intra-Party Preferences
Well-established methods exist for measuring party positions, but reliable means for estimating intra-party preferences remain underdeveloped. While most efforts focus on estimating the ideal points of individual legislators based on inductive scaling of roll call votes, this data suffers from two problems: selection bias due to unrecorded votes and strong party discipline, which tends to make voting a strategic rather than a sincere indication o…
How economic crises affect political representation
How do economic crises affect political representation in times of constrained government? Our paper shows that among voters salience of economic issues increases during economically harsh times. However, parties respond only to a limited degree to economic shocks, with the result that congruence between parties and voters decreases. We theorise the incentives and disincentives different political parties have in choosing a saliency strategy and …
Mehrheitsfähigkeit der Altersvorsorge 2020
Nach einem mehr als fünf Jahre dauernden Gesetzgebungsprozess ist die Vorlage «Altersvorsorge 2020» zur Reform der ersten und zweiten Säule der Schweizerischen Altersrentenversicherung im September 2017 in der Volksabstimmung gescheitert. Dies obwohl die Finanzierungsszenarien einen klaren Sicherungsbedarf ausweisen, und obwohl fast 90 Prozent der Stimmbürgerinnen und Stimmbürger Reformen in der Altersvorsorge für notwendig halten. Es liegt daher…
Selecting in or Selecting Out? Gender Gaps and Political Methodology in Europe
Studies investigating gender gaps in the doctoral training of political science students have focused so far overwhelmingly on the US context. Although important research within this context has made strides in identifying the persistent challenges to women’s incorporation in political methodology, much remains unknown about whether women and men have different experiences in methods training during their PhD programs. We contribute to this debat…
The Politics of Trade-Offs
Welfare state reform in times of austerity is notoriously difficult because most citizens oppose retrenchment of social benefits. Governments, thus, tend to combine cutbacks with selective benefit expansions, thereby creating trade-offs: to secure new advantages, citizens must accept painful cutbacks. Prior research has been unable to assess the effectiveness of compensating components in restrictive welfare reforms. We provide novel evidence on …
Errors have been made, others will be blamed
This article investigates prime ministers’ communication strategies during the most recent economic crisis in Europe. It argues that when electoral risk is high but governments’ policy options are severely limited, prime ministers will use specific communication strategies to mitigate electoral risks. Two such communication strategies are analysed – issue engagement and blame shifting – by applying state‐of‐the‐art quantitative text analysis meth…
Social status, political priorities and unequal representation
Researchers on inequalities in representation debate about whether governments represent the preferences of the rich better than those of less affluent citizens. We argue that problems of high‐ and low‐status citizens are treated differently already at the agenda‐setting stage. If affluent and less affluent citizens have different priorities about which issues should be tackled by government, then these divergent group priorities explain why gove…
The surge in women's representation in the 2019 Swiss federal elections
In the 2019 Swiss federal elections, women's representation increased more than at any time before, reaching an all‐time high at 42%. In this article, we offer several explanations for this. First, in almost all parties, the percentage of female candidates was significantly larger than in the previous elections. Second, on average female candidates held better positions on party lists, both compared to men and to the previous election. Third, in …
Introduction to the Special Issue “The 2019 Swiss National Elections
This Special Issue brings together a large variety of contributions dealing with the influence of issues and issue competition, the structure of attitudes towards immigration and international cooperation and a series of non‐policy factors such as campaign consultants and the rise of female representation in Switzerland. In this introduction we place the contributions in the broader framework of current debates in the international literature and…
Group-based public opinion polarisation in multi-party systems
Public opinion polarisation can impair society’s ability to reach a democratic consensus in different political issue areas. This appears particularly true when the polarisation of opinions coincides with clearly identifiable social groups. The literature on public opinion polarisation has mostly focussed on the US two-party context. We lack concepts and measures that can be adapted to European countries with multi-party systems and multi-layered…
Polarisation or convergence? How the economy shapes party policy positions
A well-studied hypothesis in the political economy literature is that economic globalisation leads to the convergence of economic policies because of increasing international constraints. However, little is known about how parties adapt their policy positions during economic crises. This paper investigates parties’ policy shifts in economically harsh times. It highlights the important distinction between long-term trends (e.g., economic integrati…
Political science (15 works) · Politics (13 works) · Electoral Systems and Political Participation (12 works) · Law (11 works) · Economics (10 works) · Populism, Right-Wing Movements (7 works) · Sociology (7 works) · Law (6 works) · Political economy (6 works) · Political Influence and Corporate Strategies (6 works)